Colin Iles has created a space for leaders to not only think outside the box, but smash it wide open. CEO of the Equinox Leadership and Innovation Centre, Colin is helping those in business stay strong against the current industry disruptors.
What is the Equinox Innovation Centre’s mission?
The Equinox is a purpose-built venue, created to help leadership teams hold frank and open discussions about how to survive and thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Board and C-level executives are paid to set and execute winning strategies. They have to continually present a unified front of confidence that their plans are not just the right plans, but the best plans. Asking them to openly discuss why they will probably fail, or if they are willing to adopt radically different business models, is challenging at the best of times. This is doubly so when they try to hold these conversations in their offices where hierarchies and political jockeying play a central role. We therefore built the Equinox to try to offer a solution to this problem. We wanted to create a safe space, where leaders can openly challenge their existing strategies, ask stupid questions and make big decisions to pivot where necessary.
How crucial is it for entrenched organisations to grasp innovation?
Massively important. We are no longer living in a world where organisations can rely on their assets and legacy to protect themselves from extinction. Access to key technologies is becoming ubiquitous and so virtually anyone on the planet, who has a reasonable standard of education and internet access, is now a potential market disruptor.
Read more in the March/April 2019 issue of Fast Company South Africa.
